The Day Of The Performance.
Woke up today feeling much better than yesterday which was a rather traumatic day indeed. There was much to arrange and a lot of co-ordination needed. I felt we would have been better served to have been able to rehearse this morning. However, conflicting schedules would not allow it. I arrived in college early to speak to Marlisa about how last night’s rehearsal went and also in a last-minute panic regarding Risk Assessments. I really should have been more on the ball in regards to this and dealt with the issue earlier. Unfortunately the college Health and Safety Officer was off but her colleague was extremely helpful and after slightly tweaking a pre-existing standard Risk-Assessment it was decided that all bases had been covered and the show was OK to proceed. I was still fairly uncertain as to where the production stood in regards to props. Although I had contacted my friend in the theatre it was still not 100% that the main-prop – The Bar- would arrive and this was very stressful as I felt the bar was now at this point in time pivotal to the production. As far as other bar furniture was concerned the sourcing of such items proved to be an easier prospect. I was popped into town and through my connections with the local pub trade was able to source a number of bar-stools to add to the pub-feel of the production. Back at college I then arranged getting the drinks for the free-bar. All of this had been pre-arranged with the President of the Student’s Association. However, as usual, a break-down in communication led to another minor altercation with members of the housekeeping staff regarding college licensing policy. This very nearly caused yet another element of the production which had begin essential to the performance and audience experience to nearly have to be axed also. This was all very stressful and although it was swiftly rectified only serves to further highlight the need for communication. Note to self though: Don’t ever ask for a donation for entry on the door to cover drink costs. Out of the 60 people that were there I ended up with £40 and no drink left at the end!
I feel that the last week has shown that one of the best desicions I have made regarding this production was ask Marty Page to come onboard as stage manager. Marty has been able to co-ordinate sound-engineers, lighting and projections as well as organise many other elements of the event and without his input, help and support the production would have proven even more disastrous (if that could be possible) and I would have spent this time as even more of a nervous wreck than I had already become. Although events had conspired to make the intended screen-projections that were to form part of the original concept impossible, we were able to provide some back-projection that helped to set the scene.
By the time the stage had been set up, and initial sound check carried out and all members of the cast were present we were left with very little time to run the songs or rehearse any of the linking dialogue. I decided it was best to rehearse the songs we had not managed to get through last night and go through some of the beginnings and endings of the more challenging or less well rehearsed songs from the rest of the set. I would have to rely upon my cast’s familiarity with the storyline and improvisational abilities in regards to any dialogue that would occur during the actual performance.
The performance itself went much better than I think anyone had expected given the number of setbacks that had beset the production from the beginning. The sound onstage was lacking and I found it difficult to hear anything from the piano being lost in the monitor-mix which had been fine during rehearsal but for some reason was poor during the performance. I believe I made more than a few mistakes and botched a few chords. I don’t feel that this was through lack of preparation on my own part as I am very familiar with all of the songs in the set. However, I feel that it was easy to get lost due to a combination of poor sound-quality, leading the band, keeping an eye on the singers and also nerves. I feel that the I could have rectified the first point by indicating to the sound desk that I couldn’t hear myself in the monitors. However, I was unsure of how to do this due to the theatrical nature of the show (I felt the technical side shouldn’t be allowed to interfere with the performance). I think that the other points were all down to experience and also confidence and I feel that in places the pressure got to me. I was horribly nervous. I hope that the more I become involved in shows of this nature the more my confidence and ability will grow.
I think that many will possibly question having alcohol on-stage as part of the production. However, I feel that it added to the performance rather than detracted from it and I was pleased that everyone involved was actually rather sensible with it.
Overall it is a huge relief to have the whole thing over and done with. I feel that I have made a lot of mistakes along the way and I have been disappointed that what had originally been intended failed to come together. But equally I have learned a huge amount about what is required to put together a performance such as this and have been taught some valuable lessons about myself. Could I have done more? Should I have approached things differently? Did I attempt to take on too much? The answer to these questions is most definitely yes. However, I am also proud of what was achieved at the end of the day.
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